Publishers who never wanted to publish Milo Yiannopoulos’ 'Dangerous' book are having a field day right now
After months spent defending him, publisher Simon & Schuster finally aborted its plans to put out former alt-right hero Milo Yiannopoulos’ new book Dangerous yesterday, following the unearthing of controversial comments he previously made about paedophilia.
“They canceled my book,” Yiannopoulos sulked on Facebook, to a host of angry face emoji reactions from his followers.
Publisher Canongate, however, was very upbeat about the news:
Very happy (delighted really) to announce that we’re also not publishing Milo.
— Canongate (@canongatebooks) February 21, 2017
It was over the moon, in fact:
Milo joins such luminaries as two clowns in a bar fight, a piss-covered wolf gnawing its own leg & Piers Morgan on our exciting non-list.
— Canongate (@canongatebooks) February 21, 2017
@canongatebooks My colleague tells me we're currently in discussions with piss-covered wolf, 1 of the most exciting new voices in literature
— Canongate (@canongatebooks) February 21, 2017
After its posts picked up a fair few retweets, even children’s book publishers were joining the fray:
@canongatebooks we also previously had discussions with piss-covered wolf about a kids toilet training book but decided not to pursue
— Hachette Children's (@HachetteKids) February 21, 2017
Melville House meanwhile, had a serious point to make, taking issue with Simon & Schuster’s original assertion that it was publishing Dangerous in the name of free speech:
The shameful takeaway from the Milo story is S&S lied. It was never about free speech. Otherwise, why cancel because of something he said?
— Melville House (@melvillehouse) February 20, 2017
@hollyquate As we said from the start. But this was S&S's claim/defense.
— Melville House (@melvillehouse) February 20, 2017
The house's decision has not affected Roxanne Gay's own to not work with S&S:
All I really need to say: - ... https://t.co/iAzgRoZuqt
— roxane gay (@rgay) February 21, 2017
After the footage of Yiannopoulos discussing the age of consent and his own abuse circulated, the Breitbart senior editor posted that he regretted the “imprecise language” he used, but stood by what he said.
“I'm partly to blame,” he wrote in a statement on Facebook. “My own experiences as a victim led me to believe I could say anything I wanted to on this subject, no matter how outrageous.
“But I understand that my usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation and gallows humor might have come across as flippancy, a lack of care for other victims or, worse, "advocacy." I deeply regret that. People deal with things from their past in different ways.
“As to some of the specific claims being made, sometimes things tumble out of your mouth on these long, late-night live-streams, when everyone is spit-balling, that are incompletely expressed or not what you intended.
“Nonetheless, I've reviewed the tapes that appeared last night in their proper full context and I don't believe they say what is being reported.”